The Rotary Club of Kirkland held an in-person meeting at the Kirkland Eagles Club facility. Vice President Kate Koslosky presided during this meeting. She called the meeting to order at 6:16 p.m.
Alice Volpe led us in the Pledge; Doug Evanson led us in the 4-Way Test.
Members Attending: David Aubry, Bob Auslander*, Cody Baker, Gary Cohn*, Sue Cohn*, Doug Evanson, Monica Fratita*, Rashmi Garimella, Margie Glenn*, Isabelle Kalisa, Chris Kelly-Storbeck, Kate Koslosky, Laura Loomis, Jim Meniketti, Rick Ostrander, Rémy Pairault, Angela Pritchett, John Pruitt, Daniel Sada Caraveo, John Storbeck, and Alice Volpe. *Attended via Zoom.
Guests: Our guests this evening were our speaker, Lou Cutler, and Charles Loomis, husband of Rotarian Laura Loomis.
Rotary Moment:
John Pruitt gave us a Rotary Moment reminding everyone of all the various ways Rotary, specifically our club, serves the community. He asked each member to be sure to sign the greeting card given to each attendee, reminding us all that we will be providing Thanksgiving baskets to a number of families from John Muir Elementary. Instead of food baskets, we will be providing each family with a gift card along with a greeting card signed by a club member.
Mr. Pruitt also reminded us of the seven causes that Rotary International focuses on: peace building and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; community economic development; and the environment.
Announcements:
Doug Evanson reminded us of the upcoming Holiday Gift Shopping, Wrapping, and Gala. We need 15 folks to sign up for shopping on December 14 at the Totem Lake Fred Meyer. See the club website for the volunteer sign-up. The wrapping party, gala, and annual meeting (with elections) will be on Monday, December 16, at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Kirkland. We have $2,500 in matching funds available for the shopping event, of which there was $900 left as of November 18.
Doug also reminded us of the upcoming Valentine’s Day Dinner on February 10 at the Kirkland Woman’s Club.
Program:
John Storbeck introduced our speaker, Lou Cutler, of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. This organization provides the means for terminally ill children to have their fondest wish granted. This can be a trip to someplace like Disney World, or meeting a celebrity, be someone like Batman, etc.
Mr. Cutler has been involved for 28 years and in spite of initial squeamish, has found the experience incredibly rewarding. Parents are included in any event, but they cannot say ‘no’ to any request the child may express. This includes ice cream for breakfast. Mr. Cutler also found that his experiences with the children helped him to keep his own life in perspective. One can really get more out of such an experience than one puts into it. He also found that his experiences in the program inspired him to do more, and to become part of something truly larger than oneself.
He encouraged interested folks to look into the organization, and to get involved; the organization has chapters coast-to-coast. Volunteers all work in pairs.
There were a number of questions from Rotarians which resulted in us learning that big organizations such as Disney World (more than 150,000 free visits), Alaska Airlines, and various sports teams have all donated time and services to the cause. Most of the money donated actually goes towards the cause; there is very little overhead.
Cody Baker conducted a ticket drawing, resulting in 4 winners. He also did a short Happy Dollars session, proving again that we are a happy group.
The meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
David Aubry – Acting Scribe